New Trend Magazine (195 articles under 46 headings: www.NewTrendMag.org)

(Important new book on Palestine from Malaysia. See end of this posting.)

CARNAGE in PALESTINE: Method in Sharon's Madness
Second U.S. Offensive Stalled: Rumsfeld Admits, no Basis for Casualty Figures
Mullah Omar's Companion Leads Defense in Battle near Gardez


{Local News: March 2, 2002 at a sold out Peace Conference in La Verne, California, near Los Angeles, Dr. Kaukab Siddique denounced the charges against Imam Jamil al-Amin and said an adverse verdict would traumatize the Islamic community. A report on this unique conference is being prepared.}

PALESTINE: On March 8, Israeli tanks and armored units went on the rampage in Palestinian refugee camps. Even Red Crescent vehicles, protected under international law in all conflicts, were shot up by the Israelis. No complete figures are available but the Zionist Jews killed at least 47 Palestinian youths and children, according to data compiled by IAP.

In that context, President Bush has sent Gen. Zinni back to the area.

Thus the Sharon-Bush strategy is becoming clear even to those who see the U.S. as "honest broker." The process seems to be as follows:

Sharon wants a Palestinian entity which has been beaten to a defenseless pulp. There should be no resistance worth the name. Islamists are the prime targets. Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Hizbut Tahrir people are assassinated in cold blood. Homes are demolished. Towns are sealed off, roads blocked, hospitals unapproachable. Israeli tanks rampage through refugee camps, killing one person here, two there.

Once the Palestinians are on their knees, then America will come in as "honest broker" and Sharon will "reluctantly" resume talks with Arafat. Within that farcical context, Arafat will emerge as the hero of the Palestinian people: see, he will say, your sacrifices have paid off. He will be given a puppet "state", defenseless and at the mercy of Israel. ARAFAT HAS ALREADY AGREED THAT THE PALESTINIAN STATE WILL BE DEMILITARIZED.

The problem Sharon, Bush and Arafat have is not with each other or with any nuances of the future Palestinian "state" but with the growing power of the Islamic movement. Arafat could not fulfill the Tenet and Mitchell plans to attack the Islamists because from within his support base, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade emerged which is morally aligned to the other Islamic groups.

CROWN PRINCE ABDULLAH of Saudi Arabia seems to have come out with his plan to recognize Israel in return for Israeli withdrawals to the 1967 borders owing to the growing need to defuse the growing Islamic movement. Abdullah has put Saudis' Islamic legitimacy on the line because if the situation is not stabilized, the Islamic movement could become a threat to the Saudi dynasty too.

Notice that Egypt's Mubarak endorsed the Saudi plan and Syria's Bashar visited Saudi Arabia to carry out secret talks on how to hold back the Islamic movement. NOTICE THAT IRAN-BACKED HIZBULLAH is very quiet at this time of tragedy and suffering in Palestine.

IRAN ARRESTED 150 people connected to Al-Qaida, repeatedly assured the U.S. of its opposition to the Taliban, and even ejected Hikmatyar from Iran owing to Hikmatyar's criticism of the Karzai regime. Karzai then visited Iran and was assured of full support.

RUMSFELD ADMITS: NO BASIS FOR AL-QAIDA LOSSES STATISTICS

After the first wave of Operation Anaconda was beaten back by the Islamic cadre of 100 mujahideen, the U.S. government worked hard to assure the American people that "we are (still) winning.". One aspect of this propaganda was the daily issuance of figures for Al-Qaida fighters killed, ABOUT ONE HUNDRED A DAY. By March 7, the Zionist media were repeating U.S. figures of 450 to 600 to 700 Al-Qaida killed. Meantime, Rumsfeld had "predicted" that the Al-Qaida defenders would be wiped out by the "weekend" (March 9 and 10).

However, many in the American public did not buy these claims. Note this:
1. NOT ONE AL-QAIDA DEAD HAS BEEN SHOWN on TV.
2. THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE HILL THE U.S. CAN SHOW ON A MAP WHICH IT HAS CONQUERED FROM AL-QAIDA.

Public cynicism created a big gulf between U.S. claims and the on-ground reporting by U.S. reporters themselves. Hence on March 8, Rumsefeld did a reality check. He admitted:
1. The chances of a U.S. victory by March 10 are remote.
2. There is no evidence for the statistics of 450 to 600 Al-Qaida killed.
Rumsfeld admitted that these statistics are mere speculation (during interview with CBS). In fact the CBS reporter nettled Rumsfeld by pointing out that the U.S. might be trying to counter the 9 U.S. killed and 40 injured in the battle by claiming that the Islamists have lost 100s.

NEW TREND'S REPORTING, which has been correct in the past on this war, indicates that the SECOND part of Operation Anaconda is stalled. There have been no American advances although the U.S. has dropped 1350 bombs on the Islamists.
Our sources indicate that only about 100 Al-Qaida and Taliban have been involved in this battle which started on March 1.
The remaining Islamic cadres are in five other areas in the Khost and Gardez region and have not been engaged in the defeat of Operation Anaconda.
ONE MISTAKE. We erred by saying that only Pakistanis and Bangladeshis were part of the Taliban segment of the Islamic cadre. The fact is that Afghan mujahideen are equally involved and the entire defense is led by a trusted friend of Mullah Omar.

Three Islamists who were martyred in the fighting were brought to a village below the mountains for burial. The call for jihad is spreading among the villagers and food and supplies have been taken to the defenders by the Afghans.
THE IMPACT OF THE ISLAMIC VICTORY can be seen on the Karzai coterie which has sent 1000 troops with several dozen tanks to help the Americans. It's an exercise in futility because the battle is taking place at 11,000 feet where tanks are inoperable.The force is probably aimed at the jihad movement emerging in the Gardez-Khost area.

At the U.S. base outside Kandhar, caches of American weapons and ammunition blew up in a series of spectacular explosions, after an Islamist infiltrator successfully triggered a booby trap in which three Afghan mercenaries were killed.

Observers say that these little battles in the Gardez-Khost area are probably the beginning of the coming defeat of America at the military level. Islam has just begun to fight back. As the guerrilla warfare builds up, the pressure on the murderous Zionist entity and the corrupt Muslim rulers will also increase.

When the Russians entered Afghanistan, they took Kabul in ONE DAY and major cities all over Afghanistan in three weeks. Less than nine years later, they withdrew unilaterally. Today, the Pakistani border is sealed, which makes the struggle more difficult, but the Islamic movement has support from Pakistani masses, as well as Islamists in Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Chechnya
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IMPORTANT BOOK ON HISTORY OF PALESTINIAN DIASPORA IN CAMPS:
Palestinians Speak: I Painted the snow black...because we're afraid of the days" edited by Dr. Alijah Gordon fro Malaysia. 161 pages, $15. Testimonies from survivors of Tal a-zaatar, Sabra-Shatila, Khiam Prison, war of the camps and much more.
Order from: New Trend, POB 356, Kingsville, MD 21087
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2002-03-09 Sat 14:54ct